Ganpati bappa morya!

It is the day we say goodbye. No, this is not another dreary, weepy, pathetically sad bit of writing, the way the last one was, perhaps, but a happy event that Mumbai celebrates with much sound and fury signifying a great deal to us locals. It is the day that Lord Ganesha, in his toweringly large sarvajanik avatar, leaves the community, the city and this worldly realm, dipping into the waters until his return next year. He has been worshipped for ten days in a public forum, with lights, music, prayers and offerings that could, actually speaking, finance an entire country, even a mid-sized one. And today, ten days after he arrived, he goes back to where he came from, his pot-belly awesomely full and his devotees wonderfully content.

Ganesha is this country’s favourite god. He is a child, in most of his depictions, one who is full of whimsical humour and good food, one who adores his parents – especially his mother – and always has mindspace for a good laugh. He gives and keeps giving, he protects, he blesses, he confers peace and goodwill. And he is lovable with his shape and size, akin to the fat-tummied laughing Buddha whom you pat for good luck. And though the generally accepted style is to use a capital first letter for all that pertaining to divinity, Ganesha is more plebeian and human in a certain very special way, being part of the masses who bow down to him in awe, in respect, in pleading.

In Mumbai, as in Maharashtra on the whole, the Ganpati festival is, in some ways, more important than any other such occasion. People save money, office vacation time and bonhomie for the ten days, gathering goodwill as they chant the name of the elephant-headed deity, sometimes through songs set to popular Bollywood tunes, sometimes through ancient verses recited sonorously over a sound system, sometimes through silent movements of the lips during a commute from one crowded venue to another. And before any action that needs a nod from above, be it a job interview or a college exam or a wedding, there will be a prayer to Ganesha, asking for his benevolence to be handed over in spades.

But with all this goodwill and good thought, when the Lord leaves, there is no sadness. There is dancing and singing, huge processions and loud music, laughter and a sure knowledge that he will soon be back, in about 12 months or so. After all, he is seen off and invited back, with a loud and fervent send-off of “Ganpati bappa morye, pudchya varshi laukarya!” (Farewell Ganpati, come back next year!)